Mr. or Mrs. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson?

This morning I received an e-mail from Sport Kings informing me to check out the checklist for their new cut signatures which can be found in Series C.  Going through the list, one name stood out more than anyone – “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.  Knowing that Jackson has never had a cut signature made because he didn’t learn how to read or write until later in life, I e-mailed Sport Kings to see if the autograph is really Jacksons’ or his wife’s signature.  I got the following response:

As was the case back then the cut signature is done by Mrs. Joe Jackson, this information is on the back of the card.  Sorry this will disappoint you.

Sport Kings LP

This doesn’t surprise me because its very rare to find an artifact signed by Jackson himself.  Sport Kings doesn’t have an image up of what the card will look like, but the signature probably will look something like this:

The above picture is an example of what Jackson’s signature would look like when his wife would sign for him.  Pictured below is an example of an authentic signature of Jackson.  As you can see, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson had a hard time connecting the letters “J” “A” and “C” in his last name.